Somebody to Love
by SimplySummer
Summary: So Aang has Katara, Sokka has Suki, and Zuko has Mai so what about Toph? How would Toph react to a first love? : I'm willing to find out. TophxOC.
1. Teacher

**Somebody to Love**

**Chapter 1: Teacher**

**So we all know that Aang has Katara, Sokka has Suki, and Zuko has Mai, but what about Toph? I thought it was sort of unfair for her not to have someone. So that's what I wanted this story to be about, Toph finding someone. Oh and this story is completely dedicated to tophpwns for giving me some awesome ideas for this story, and for putting up with some of my brainstorming.**

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The war was finally over, so everyone was beginning to move on with their lives. Toph was actually becoming a bit aggravated with some benders coming back from war. They wouldn't leave her alone; they all wanted to learn from her. She usually just sent them to Aang, none of them wanted to learn the right way. She didn't have much patience with anyone who did not want the true discipline of earth bending. So it was very rare to see her teaching a new student. Sometimes when she got bored she would go and help Aang, but it didn't take long for the shear frustration to take hold once more. This situation unfolded once again this morning; she had stormed out of their training center, grumbling about how ignorant these so called "masters" were.

On her way back to her house she could sense someone following her. Which was beginning to become really irritating, "is there a reason you're following me?" she asked completely annoyed as she faced them. 'Wow she really is blind' the boy thought as eyed her curiously.

"Yes actually there is. I wanted to ask you if you would teach me how to metal bend." Toph smirked; oh how normal this was. She was used to the constant arrogance of earth benders…everyone was so great that they could pick up metal bending without even breaking a sweat. Truth was very few of them could learn the skill.

"Do you even know how to Earth bend?" she asked seriously.

"Well; I think I know how, but then again you teach differently. So I guess it's your opinion." She grinned wildly at his comment 'Hmm this should be fun', she thought as she concocted some teaching ideas.

"You have a name?" She asked. She wanted his real name before she came up with a good nickname for her student. He was a little embarrassed that he forgot to introduce himself.

"Yeah Dimitri; hi," he told her with a clumsy smile. He wasn't really sure how to treat a blind person. Should he shake her hand? Give her a wave? So he stood awkwardly in confusion, and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Hi I'm Toph. You nervous or something Dimitri?" she asked she could sense some tension, and the vibrations from his hand on his neck was evident to her; completely unknown to him.

"No" he lied, as his cheeks started to burn. She could tell he was lying, so she half smiled in response.

"So when would you like to learn the real way to earth bend?" He didn't understand what she meant by that.

"Well whenever is best for you." Her lip twitched upward and then went serious again. The next thing he knew a boulder was hurdling towards him. He took his stance quickly and sliced the rock in two. "What the heck was that for?" he asked, as he furrowed his brow.

"Just wanted to see if you knew some of the basics" she told him, as a toothy grin implanted neatly on her face, he returned the gesture. 'I think I'm going to like the way she teaches' he thought delighted with what she had done. "Meet me at the training center tomorrow, regular time. We'll start then." She told him as she walked away. Aang wouldn't be teaching anyone tomorrow so she could have some fun teaching him. She was halfway down the road when he realized he was still staring after her. He ran his fingers through his chocolate brown curls 'whoa got a little spacey,' He tried telling himself as his cheeks burned lightly.

**The next day ~**

"You're late!" Toph barked, as Dimitri entered the doorway. She'd never actually given him a specific time so he just came when the regular classes started.

"Well you never told me what time to come. I'm not late according to your posters." He told her, as he pointed his finger at one.

"Hello I'm BLIND. Does it look like I can read?" She asked sarcastically, as she waved a hand in front of her face.

"Well it says class begins at six." He told her matter of factly as he slouched lazily up against the wall.

"Regular bending classes always begin at sunrise. I figured everyone knew that."

"Obviously not everyone" he said smiling; he was loving this. She tightened her eyebrows.

"Well you know now, don't be late again." She growled at him. He rolled his glittering sky blue eyes dramatically.

"I'm sorry." He pushed himself off the wall, and went on to position himself close enough to feel the body heat that radiated off the girl. "I won't be late again." She grinned and threw a small rock into his stomach. He was standing a bit too close for comfort. He rubbed the sore spot as a silly smile played on his lips. He took his stance, ready for the next blow.

"Oh were not fighting." She told him straightening up. "That's the easiest part of training. You have a long way to go." She gave him some of her hardest practices. It was surprising to her that he did all of them very well. But, it was all too evident to her that he did not know earth sight. "Do you know where the training cave is at?" she asked him casually. He had been juggling a huge boulder on his back.

"Uhm. No. I. Don't. Think. So." He said between pants; this rock was heavy.

"Oh well meet me here tomorrow _on time,_ and I'll take you there." She waited a few more minutes as he struggled beneath the boulder getting her revenge, then lifted it off his back. He stood up straight and went to stand near her again.

"So this training cave wouldn't happen to be a date now would it?" He asked flirting as he smiled smugly at her. "I mean you can just come straight out and ask." She laughed and took a step back.

"Don't you wish" she teased as she turned to head home.

"Wait." He called as he caught up with her. "Can I walk you home?" he asked in all innocence

That made her furious; she hated it when people acted like she was a helpless little blind girl.

"If you haven't noticed I can take care of myself. You don't have to act like you like me just because I'm blind." She told him; speeding up in her stride.

"Who said it was an act?" he asked, matching her pace. She sighed as she turned and faced him.

"Just go home."

"Okay, okay I'm sorry if offended you. I really did just want to walk you home." He told her, turning in the opposite direction.

She felt kind of bad for blowing up on him. But she wasn't about to go soft for some boy she just met.

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**So tell me the truth does it suck so far? I'm sorry if it does. I can take flames. Push that green and grey button! It loves the attention.**


	2. Earth Sight

**Somebody to Love**

**Chapter 2: Earth Sight**

**I'm sorry it took a little while to update. I just started cheerleading practice, and my schedule has been a little crazy. But, enough of my babbling; on with the story!**

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"Nice to see you here on time" Toph greeted, Dimitri proved himself reliable. He approached his teacher with his hands up in an 'I surrender' gesture.

"I was thinking about coming sooner so we could watch the sunrise together, but I figured I'd get yelled at for that too." He flirted, invading her space, yet again. A small smile tugged at one side of her lips. She was sorry for getting frustrated with him. But she was not going to apologize for it and make the head he already had on him bigger. So she turned silently and headed in the direction of the training cave. "So uhm, what are we going to do at this 'training cave'?" the flirty tone coated each word. If she could see she could have sworn she would have 'saw' him looking hungrily at her. She shook her head at how perverted his mind was.

"Teaching you something you're going to need to know if you want to metal bend. But it sounds to me like your mind is somewhere else so we can just stop training now. I don't really have to teach you anything." She told him as she stopped to wait for his apology, and to make her point. She really didn't have to teach him. Secretly she really wanted to though; she kind of liked this boy, and she honestly enjoyed teaching him. She blushed as her mind ran through these thoughts, and he noticed.

"I didn't mean for it to offend you, but I guess that's how any girl would take it. Sorry." She knew he was being honest; he actually was sorry. She was a little surprised at his honesty. They reached the cave in awkward silence. He looked inside the cavity, and tilted his head to one side; staring into the black backdrop of it. Then he turned to look at Toph. "Uhm, were training in there?" he asked pointing inside. She smiled.

"Yes. Why is there something wrong with it?" He shifted his weight from one foot to the other nervously.

"Well yeah. I can't exactly see in there."

"Yes captain obvious; that's the point." He bit his bottom lip thinking of the best explanation for the question that was being asked in his mind.

"Well how am I supposed to bend if I cannot see?" he asked after he'd lost the patience to think of an answer himself.

"You don't need to use your eyes to bend. That's what I'm going to teach you, how to see using your bending." See using his bending? He'd never heard anything like that before. He looked at her questioningly and a half smile appeared on her face with his look of wonder. She could actually see him; couldn't she? She walked into the cave and the darkness enclosed around her. "Come on." Her voice commanded from the black emptiness. He took a deep breath and entered the cave wide eyed straining to find light in the depth of the blackness surrounding him. Then he heard a rock moving behind him. He turned to face the sound and the rock was closing the last bit of light from the outside world. "Calm down Dimitri its only darkness." Yeah it was but he was a little scared of the dark, but he was not going to let anyone know that. He took another deep breath and let his lids close so his eyes would forgive him for neglecting to do so for such a long time. He eventually became completely calm and reopened his eyes to see nothing.

"Okay I'm calm now." He told Toph who was waiting very patiently for him.

"Now listen. Try to feel the Earth around you." He closed his eyes once again and concentrated best he could. 'Feel the Earth around you' eventually his eyebrows tightened with all of his concentration. Then he felt a small vibration. His ears became more aware and strained to hear if it was something big; if something was coming. Then he felt confused he couldn't hear anything. 'Hmm' he put his foot out in front of him and let it fall as silently as it could against the ground. He saw it then, the everything. The vibrations pulsating throughout the room he saw his vibrations gliding over every object. It was a lot to take in. It wasn't actually seeing, it was feeling. He could feel everything.

"Wow" he gasped sudden realization setting in with everything he was starting to notice, every last detail of every little thing. "Your way of seeing is pretty extraordinary." He told her a smile playing on his lips. She smiled and picked up a small pebble to toss at him. You couldn't actually 'see' the object if it was in the air. But if he felt if coming towards him with his bending she knew he'd be ready. He caught on quick and readied his hands in a catching position. She smiled and threw the rock and it landed between his eyes. She giggled.

"Apology accepted." She said when she was finished giggling. He smiled too, glad he was forgiven. She took another small rock between her fingers and told him again, "remember to feel the earth around you. Ready?" she asked after a few seconds he nodded. She tossed the rock lightly into his chest he still wasn't getting it, but it might take some time.

"Darn." He said to himself. She readied a bit of a larger rock in her hand. Maybe he needed a little more motivation. She threw this one more swiftly and he turned to dodge the blow.

"You're not aloud to move out of the way. You have to either catch it or stop it." The silence lasted a few seconds until he finally nodded. She picked up an even larger rock than the last one. She waited a few more seconds until he nodded again. It was about to touch him when he caught it, and it hovered above the ground he smiled and clenched his fist to crush the rock into dust with his bending. He was proud of himself.

"I did it." He told her rejoicing. She folded her arms across he chest and leaned against the cave wall tiredly.

"Well go on; have some fun." She told him she knew he would want to experiment with his newly found abilities, "that's all I have to teach you today. I actually thought it was going to take much longer." His lips moved upward with her comment.

"Thanks for believing in me" He said as he joined her against the wall. She sighed and turned to face him.

"Would you quit that?" she asked when she finally got the nerve.

"Quit what?" he asked completely dumbfounded.

"Flirting with me! You don't have to pretend that you like me just because I'm blind." She told him again blankly.

"Well from what you've taught me today you're not blind. And; I'm not pretending anything." She smiled. While he struggled to keep the redness from his cheeks.

"Dimitri you don't even know me." She told him pushing herself off the wall to open the cave. She eased it open gently until someone tugged it back into place.

"I wasn't finished," he said when she turned to look at him accusingly, "Well why don't we change that? And from what I do know about you I like you…a lot." She blushed and thought of how she could get out of this. They sat in silence for a few moments. "I'm not letting you out until I get an answer" She knew she could outsmart him, but he was stronger than her.

"So I can get out with either answer?" she questioned.

"No. Only the right one." She sighed again. Oh how stubborn this boy was. She did like him. Sure, why not give him what he wants. The little voice in the back of her head nagged. She crossed her arms again.

"You know it's not really a date if it's by force" She mused and then let him she let him think about that for a minute. "Sure" she said letting the smile invade her lips. He let the rock slide open again, only to reveal the harsh light of the outside world. He squinted at the sudden sight. "Only after you've learned how to metal bend though"

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**Yeah that probably wasn't worth the wait was it? Sorry. Hit that green and grey button please.**


	3. Metal Bending

**Somebody to Love; Chapter Three**

**I absolutely hate busy summers. I'm very sorry it's taking so long to update this story!**

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"So are we going to the training cave again today?" Dimitri asked as he entered the class doorway.

"Yes, it will be easier for you to master metal bending without your actual sight."

"Oh, I'm really that bad? And here I thought you believed in me" he said flirting again as they headed towards the cave. She laughed at that comment. "So where do you want to go for our date?" he asked to break the silence.

"It's not really a date remember it was by force." She repeated again.

"If that's what you want to tell yourself go ahead, I think it's a date. But seriously where do you wanna go?"

She sighed "It doesn't matter to me." 'I like this boy?' she started asking herself mockingly. "Honestly I don't want to go anywhere with you." She added with a smile.

"Then why are you here with me now?"

"Because you asked _me_ to teach you" she told him annoyed.

"Hmm, well I think you do want to go out with me" he said with a sly smile. They had just reached the cave. He stopped before he entered the darkness and took a deep breath then headed in. She closed the doorway behind him. He had only made it partway through the cave when he walked into something hard. "OUCH!" He hissed rubbing his nose. "What the heck is that?" He asked he couldn't 'see' it at all with his earth sight. Toph was laughing hysterically at him. The metal had been there last time he just never sensed it. It was another tool Aang and her sometimes used to teach students.

"You can't learn metal bending without metal." She finally said after her laughter settled. Then he felt around the length of the metal until he found some sort of door with a lock.

"What is this some sort of metal containment box?"

"Well its how I learned to metal bend. So now it's how I like to teach people." She grinned widely at him. It wasn't usual to teach benders that way, but she wanted to see what he had to say about being locked up in a metal box. He turned to her and then turned to the box and felt the perimeter of it again.

"So you want to lock me in this box so I can learn to metal bend; okay, just one question, will you be in here with me?" he asked tapping on the metal with that flirty tone in his voice. He actually had more of a motivation to metal bend now that motivation being; taking Toph on a date. He wanted to get this as fast as he could. She furrowed her brow.

"No you wouldn't be able to concentrate with me being so close" She shot at him. He rolled his eyes and went to stand close to her to inhale her scent. He wanted her; he couldn't deny that, so he shrugged.

"Yeah, your right" he said with a wink, adding more tension into the air. The heat rushed into her cheeks and she backed up against the wall to put some distance between them. "You're not really going to put me in there; are you?" he asked sliding a little closer to her.

"You're the one who wanted to learn metal bending." She told him placing her arms across her chest.

"But I'm going to need some guidance. Which means I'm probably going to need you in there with me, I promise not to get too distracted." He said placing his arms on either side of her head and leaning in making her back even more tightly against the wall.

"I can guide you from out here." She said the scent of her breath made his mouth water and he stopped to take it in, he wanted to taste her lips so badly; then she put her hands on his chest to keep him from coming any closer, a smiled spread across her face and she shoved him to the ground when he stopped. She started laughing as he gained back some self control and stood up. Then he turned to face her in the darkness a bit embarrassed about how much he wanted her, he did only just meet her. "Don't you ever do that again" she told him stiffly. Sure she liked it, but she was not going to let him get that far when they had just met. "Here" she said placing a small square piece of metal in his hand then backing away so he wouldn't try anything else. "Now can you see anything in that piece of metal?" He exhaled slowly to calm all the emotions stirring inside of him, and then concentrated on the metal resting in his palm. He turned it in his hands and tried to get the feel of it, but he couldn't actually 'see' anything. The silence lasted for quite some time.

"No." He finally answered a little depressed. Then he heard metal crunching and he turned his attention and concentration to Toph. She had a small piece of metal in her hands that she was squeezing and shaping. Somehow he could see her metal little bits of it, the bitts that had earth inside of them. He tried squeezing his piece of metal but it only to brought pain to his fingers.

"You're not going to budge the metal with only your strength you have to bend it. You have to find the Earth inside of it." He concentrated again on the insides of the metal. He placed a finger in the center of the metal and pressed it slightly causing a little bulge to appear on the other side. He smiled at his accomplishment and then took the metal in his fingers again squeezing it. It still wasn't working. So he placed his fingers on the edge and tried folding the metal. It was working slowly so he squeezed it again. The metal crunched this time shaping around the creases of the inside of his fist. He opened his hand to find a perfectly sculpted mold. A toothy grin spread widely across his face.

"Look's like I can metal bend." He said proudly playing with the metal some more.

"Do you think you can metal bend out of that box without using the door?"

"Hmm," he took a step towards the box and let the pulsations from his bending spread throughout the cave the vibrations surrounded the earth within the metal box making it appear to him now. He examined the little small pieces of the Earth enclosed inside of the solid metal almost amazed with its insides. "I think I could" he said a little full of himself. She opened the door and he stepped inside "There's enough room inside here for both of us." He said before she slammed the door in his face only to cause giggles to erupt from both of them.

He stomped and punched at the walls inside of the box trying to feel again where the earth was inside of the metal. Then he pressed his fingers threw the back of the metal box and sliced it down the middle. He smirked as he kicked his sliced metal to make larger gap. Then he grabbed each side of the gap and pulled to make the opening wide enough to escape from. He grinned again widely before he stepped out and walked over to her. "Piece of cake." He said shrugging. "I guess I've learned how to metal bend."

"Don't feel so high and mighty yet. You couldn't beat me in a bending match. But you have been taught the basics so I guess were finished here." She told him opening the cave.

"Wait" he said stopping the door. "You don't just say you could beat me in match without actually trying to prove it. And _were_ not finished _we_ still have a date." He told her matter-of-factly.

"You really want me to humiliate you like that?" she teased as she readied her fighting stance. He readied himself too and smiled at her comment.

"You wanna make this match a little more interesting?" he asked as they circled each other.

"Depends; how do you want to make it more interesting?"

"Well if I win we get to kiss. And if you win…we still get to kiss." He said teasing.

"If I win, you have to get over yourself."

"Deal." He said with a smile.

He shot a few boulders at her and she dodged and blocked each one. When he was finished a huge smile crossed her face as she took the metal from the box and surrounded herself with its armor. Only leaving the slits of her eyes uncovered. His mouth dropped open and then closed when he realized it was gaping. He was very impressed. He also surrounded himself but with a suit of rocks. They both stuck their arms out in front of them and then stormed towards each other and collided. He gave up and backed away before he could lose anymore of his armor. Toph had a few scratches in her armor but nothing really damaging. He crossed his arms to make a rock shield appear before him while he stripped his armor for new this time he added a little metal into it. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to bend a full metal suit. He busted through his shield and slammed hard into her chest. She laughed and then placed her hands on the chest of his suit and pushed against him. They battled like this for some time. Until they finally decided they were getting nowhere with a battle of strength. They both threw up shields and took off their armor. Toph made rock fists before taking her shield down. He could she her shield lowering and punched at his causing rocks to fly towards her. She blocked each one with her fists. He realized that he wasn't doing anything damaging so he took his rock shield down. She stood ready waiting for his next move. He lifted his arms causing rocks to capture her feet where they were. She threw one of her rock fists towards his head smiling wildly as it only scraped the side of his head; then worked one foot out of his grip as he stood startled. He saw what she was doing and recaptured the leg. She threw the other fist at him hitting him square in the gut. While he held his sore spot she captured his legs as well. He fell forward unbalanced and she captured his hands. 'Crap' he thought.

"Do you want me to count down or do you want to admit defeat?" she asked after she'd wiggled her way out of his rock bindings.

He sighed "you win" he said upset. She released him and he pushed himself off the ground. He recaptured his gut in his palm and winced with the touch.

"Sorry" she said knew that she had really hurt him.

"No you don't have to be sorry; I'm the one who thought I could win against the most powerful earth bender on the planet." He said trying to compliment her. She smiled at his compliment and went to open the cave. She rolled the door open slowly as the light began to invade the darkness, trying to let his eyes adjust. He found his way beside her again and they began walking out of the cave together. She was debating on whether or not he deserved a kiss even if he did lose, she did really hurt him. Before they parted ways to go home she turned to him.

"I really am sorry." She said a half smile tugged at one side of her lips.

"Its fi-" he was cut off by her lips pressing a chaste kiss against his cheek. The both blushed and she punched his arm playfully. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow then, for our date." He said wiggling his eyebrows. She giggled and turned away.

"See you tomorrow." She told him waving a hand.

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**So there's another chapter. I hope you liked it. Review please!**


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